Guidescope options

[Erwin Kats]

Hello all,

around 1 year ago i started autoguiding.

Ive beend autoguiding my Vixen R200SS (8'' F4) 200/800

The guidescope is a orion 80/910 mm.

Main imaging camera is a eos 40D

guidcam is a QHY 5.

the biggest problem is that i almost can not find a guide star because the FOV is very small.( i need to place the guidescope off center everytime again )

now my qeustion is, can i replace the 80/910mm for a 80/400 mm?

without getting big guiding issues?

Other tips and tricks are also very welcome

but i would love to get a smaller guidescope ( see here, how big the 80/910mm is )

Kindly Regards, Erwin Kats

[Merlin66]

I think you're trying to convince yourself to go for a ST80 as a more compact guide camera!

You could try a x0.5 reducer on the nosepiece of the QHY5 this will give you four times the FOV....

Not sure why you can't find guide stars with your current set up... there should be at least a couple in the FOV that the QHY5 and PHD would lock onto??!

[Erwin Kats]

yes, I was thinking about the ST80.

in the mean while I also saw some other 80mm with a focal length around 600mm

When I center the 80/910 on the center from the 200/800 its hard to find guidestars in the FOV, even for M31 i have to put my guidescope off center.

its very hard, and i have been using all kinds of settings for the QHY 5. ( monochrome )